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Betsy Ross: The First American Folk Hero

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Betsy Ross is well known due to the fact she sewed the first American flag. Elizabeth Griscom (her name given to her at birth) was born on January 1,1752 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, She was the eighth child born in a Quaker family of seventeen children. In the years to follow, she would become known as the American folk hero, Betsy Ross.
When Betsy was born, her family had been in America for 4 generations. Betsy learned to read, write and sew at an early age and like most children of this time period, once she had finished her schooling, Betsy was sent to learn a trade. When she was 17 years old, Betsy’s father chose to send her to apprentice at an upholstery shop near the family home. This is where Betsy would develop her skills as a seamstress, which would one day allow her …show more content…

George was aware Betsy’s talent and skill as a seamstress. He expressed his desire for Betsy to sew a flag to represent America. He shared the drawing and his plan for the flag had stars with six points. Betsy preferred stars with five points and was able to persuade the men to have her sew the stars with five points and she began her work in the back parlor of the upholstery shop. When finished, her freshly sewn flag flew for the first time with the reading of the Declaration of Independence at the Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 8, 1776
Betsy Ross was an incredible woman to experience widowhood, being a single mother, and working to further develop a skill that would help provide for her family, as well as give Betsy Ross a distinguished place in American history.
Betsy Ross was 84 years old when she passed away in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is buried in the courtyard of the Betsy Ross House in the same city in which she passed away

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